Sheep and Goats

Gather around. Let me tell you a story. 

You see, when the Son of Man (that's Jesus) comes in all his glory (to this mess of despair that we've made of the planet), and all the angels with him (and that's the scary kind of angels, you know, the ones with flaming swords and like eight heads and eyes just, like, everywhere, not the cute ones with, like, blonde curls and ish), then he will sit on the throne of his glory. 

All the nations (like, everyone, everywhere, without exception) will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. Do you have the mental image in place? Jesus, throne, scary angels, and literally everyone else in the world, and he's going to split everyone up, like apparently shepherds used to do. Sheep on the right, goats on the left. Not literal sheep and goats. That's just an image. He's going to split the people up and put some on the right and some on the left. His right and left, not ours. We there? Perfect. 

So then the king (also Jesus, the Son of Man, from before) will say to those at his right hand (the sheep, remember?), "Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."

See, that's how you get to be a metaphorical sheep, the people on the right hand, the ones that go on to the good place prepared since before the Earth began: you feed the hungry and you give water to the thirsty and you welcome strangers and you give clothes to those who need them and you take care of the sick and you visit those in prison. These are the things that you do. 

But see, the metaphorical sheep are a little confused, because they ask him, "Lord (Jesus again), when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?" 

See, they didn't understand what they were doing when they were feeding and watering and welcoming and clothing and caring and visiting. They didn't know that in the way they were living their life, they were doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing. So Jesus breaks it down. He says, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." 

And now he turns to the rest of the people, the goats, those at his left hand, and he says, "You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (so, you know, hell); for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me."

So what Jesus and all his scary righteous angels is saying here is that the goats Jesus are going to hell. So the goats panic. They start making a case for themselves. "Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?" Jesus, if I had seen you, I certainly wouldn't have treated you like that. I know that you are worthy of my attention and care. You're Jesus. The Lord. The King. I know how to treat people in positions of power and authority and I unquestionably wouldn't have ignored your needs. Here. Have a tax break. 

Jesus is having none of this. He says to the goats, "Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me." 

So, you know, when you let food assistance programs for low-income children expire, or when you do not fix drinking water crises, or when you turn away refugees and immigrants, or when you let people sleep out on the streets, or when you limit access to medical care, or when you turn a blind eye to overcrowded prisons and mass incarceration, or worse, profit off of it, you go to hell. 

Which is what happens. The goats go away to eternal punishment but the righteous into eternal life.

Now, what do we take away from this story?

Because we do treat it like a story, like some over-the-top thing Jesus said that we get to gloss past because we don't really believe in hell anymore. We don't believe in angels and the eschaton, so Jesus is just telling us that we should be nice to people, but, like, on an individual level, because we don't think that the nations are actually going to be brought before the throne. We don't think we're going to be judged on the systems we create and participate in.

But if you visit the poor and sick, or even the semi-rich and sick, how can you not want to tear apart the heath care system and fix it? If you visit the imprisoned, how can you not want to reform the prison system and the justice system? When you see the hungry and those that die from lack of water to drink, how is it that you can go back to your homes and sleep in comfort? 

And I think that's part of the point. How can we, as people who ignore the deep pain of the world, pretend to have hearts that could abide being in the presence of the living God? Of course we would be sent away from the throne. We couldn't stand it. When we see what actual goodness looks like, our apathy toward those who suffer would infinitely torment us. Our regret and shame would tear us into pieces. When we really understand the pain our selfishness causes and the pain we could have stopped if we ever looked outside of ourselves, our only response will be to cry and grind our teeth. Being measured and found wanting? That's hell to me. Knowing I caused another pain and that my heart was so hardened that I didn't even care? That's torture. That's eternal punishment. I think we can take Jesus at his word on this one.

So go. Be sheep. Be the righteous one who feeds the stranger on the street and the hungry in your community. Be the righteous one who fights for housing programs and potable water initiatives and health care and criminal justice reform. Meet needs. Do not allow injustice to stand in your presence. This is more than enough work for a lifetime, but we have to do it.

It's the work that Jesus tells us to do.